Virtual telemedicine mechanism

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods related to virtual telemedicine systems, virtual examinations, medical marketplaces, and/or assistance for patient/physicians are provided. The systems can be configured to identify relevant medical service providers based on user-specific information, whether the user has experienced a medical event that may require emergency, urgent, or non-urgent medical services, and/or provide examinations, such as virtual examinations, in person examinations, or hybrid examinations (e.g., both a virtual examination with a first physician and a physical examination with another physician).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 63/008,302, filed Apr. 10, 2020, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This applicationcontains subject matter related to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/538,051 and U.S. application Ser. No. 16/049,751; the relatedapplications are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology is directed generally to virtual telemedicinesystems and technology for assisting user and/or physicians, and moreparticularly related to virtual technologies for conducting virtualexaminations and supporting medical providers.

BACKGROUND

Various conditions or circumstances may prevent a patient from obtainingin-person physical examinations. For example, a patient may not have asufficient mode of transportation and/or the required travel distancemay not be reasonable due to one or more patientconditions/circumstances. Also, in-person visit may present unreasonableand/or avoidable risks, such as due to the patient health condition orcommunity-wide epidemics. To further complicate the issue, differentgeographic locations (e.g., countries, states, counties, etc.) may havevaried health care facilities, which may present challenges fornon-native patients (e.g., visitors or recent transplants) seekingsuitable medical assistance. In some situations, local medicalfacilities and/or the corresponding personnel may not be equipped withhave desired or required expertise, medical equipment, and/or otherresources. Thus, there is a need for a telemedicine system for providingvirtual examinations and for assisting users, physicians, and healthcare providers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems,methods, and embodiments of various other aspects of the technology. Anyperson with ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that theillustrated element boundaries (e.g. boxes, groups of boxes, or othershapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. It maybe that in some examples one element may be designed as multipleelements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. Insome examples, an element shown as an internal component of one elementmay be implemented as an external component in another, and vice versa.Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale. Non-limiting andnon-exhaustive descriptions are described with reference to thefollowing drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network connection in association with avirtual telemedicine mechanism in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram for the virtual telemedicinemechanism in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram for a first example method ofoperating the virtual telemedicine mechanism in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 4 illustrates a first example concierge output in accordance withone or more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example treatment assistance system in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 6 is an example dashboard in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram for a second example method ofoperating the virtual telemedicine mechanism in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods related to virtual telemedicine mechanism (e.g., acircuit, a device, a software, a firmware, or a combination thereof),such as for providing virtual examinations and/or for assisting patientand/or physicians is described below. The technology described hereinmay be configured to identify relevant medical service providers and/orprovide medical services (e.g., examinations) based on user-specificinformation. For example, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can assistthe user experiencing a medical event that may require emergency,urgent, or non-urgent medical services. The virtual telemedicinemechanism can be configured to conduct or assist with virtual medicalcare, in person medical care, or hybrid medical care (e.g., allowingboth in-person and remote medical personnel to service a patient).

In one aspect, a method of providing assistance to a user (e.g., apatient, a healthcare professional, or the like) in discovering medicalservices may be provided. The method can include providing one or moredatabases storing user data and support network data. The user data caninclude one or more of user personal data, user medical data, and userpreference data. The user can be identified based on at least one of aunique identity code or biometric details. Relevant local and/or remoteproviders can be identified. For location-based recommendations, themethod can further include receiving event data associated with the userand determining a geographical location of the user. Relevant supportnetwork data can be identified based on the event data and thegeographical location of the user. The relevant local support networkdata can be presented for viewing by the user. For non-geographic basedrecommendations, the method can further include receiving data providedby the user, and relevant support network data can be presented to theuser.

The support network data may include information regarding healthcareproviders located throughout the world. The user data can be provided toa health-care provider prior, during, and/or after an examination. Thesystem can analyze the user data to support examination, diagnosis,and/or treatment.

In another aspect, a method can include receiving user identifier data,user data (e.g., electronic medical records, test data, etc.), and eventdata provided by a user. A user can be identified based on the useridentifier data and reference user data associated with the user. Themethod can further include receiving geographical location dataassociated with the user. Relevant support network data, marketplacedata (e.g., medical resources available to the user) can be identifiedbased on the event data and the geographical location data. The relevantsupport network data can be transmitted for viewing by the user. In someembodiments, the relevant support network data can be configured to bedisplayed on a map with at least one of the event data or the userpreference data. In some embodiments, the relevant support data can bedisplayed along with virtual examination capabilities for varioushealthcare providers. This allows the user to select healthcareproviders capable of conducting virtual services (e.g., virtual clinicsessions, virtual examinations, etc.) based on telemedicine data, suchas devices (e.g., smart phones, tablets, computers, cameras, videocameras, imaging systems, etc.) available to the user. The system canidentify virtual services available to the user based upon thetelemedicine data. For example, if the user has access to an imagingsystem or video cameras, the system can indicate whether a physician isable to generate a 3D image, hologram, or other three-dimensional ortwo-dimensional representation of the user for conducting one or morevirtual examinations.

In another aspect, a system can include one or more databases storinguser details and support network data. The user details can include userpersonal data, user medical data, and user preference data, and thesupport network data can include data of individuals and agenciesproviding medical support. The system can further include one or moreprocessors, and memory. The memory can comprise instructions that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the system to identify theuser based on matching of at least one of a unique identity code andbiometric details with the user details. In some embodiments, the systemcan receive event data provided by the user and obtain geographicallocation data associated with the user. Relevant support network datacan be identified based on the event data and the geographical locationdata. In some embodiments, the system can receive telemedicineinformation from the user and relevant support network data can beidentified based on the telemedicine information. The system can providerelevant support network data to the user.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium isprovided. The non-transitory computer-readable medium can storeinstructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause thecomputing system to perform a method for discovering medical services ormedical services (1) within a designated area or region, (2) supportingtelemedicine, (3) associated with a virtual medical marketplace, or (4)combinations thereof. The method can include receiving user details andsupport network data. The user details can include user personal data,user medical data, and user preference data, and the support networkdata can include data of individuals and agencies providing medicalsupport. The user can be identified based on matching of at least one ofa unique identity code and biometric details with the user details. Insome embodiments, the method can further include receiving event dataprovided by the user and receiving a geographical location of the user.Relevant support network data can be identified based on the relevantdata and the geographical location of the user. The relevant supportnetwork data can be provided to the user as a map overlaid with at leastone of the event data and the user preference data. In some embodiments,the method can further include receiving telemedicine data provided bythe user and can identify the relevant support network based on thereceived data. The system can provide software, apps, or other resourcessupporting telemedicine functionality. For example, the user candownload one or more applications for communicating with a physician.The applications can support voice calls, video communications, or thelike.

An example application of the virtual telemedicine mechanism can be fordiagnosing and/or treating COVID-19 or similar infectious diseases. Theglobal COVID-19 pandemic has deeply touched and adversely impactedvirtually every community in ways that are difficult to comprehend.Unlike other common seasonal illnesses, the indelible effect of thecurrent COVID-19 public health crisis may be with us for manygenerations to come. While many countries in Asia have had a more recentexperience with similar viral outbreaks such as SARS, MERS, and H1N1,many other communities have not experienced a pandemic of this magnitudesince the Spanish Flu of 1918. Due to the more recent exposures and theresulting lessons, Asian countries may have been better prepared torespond to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as by bolstering the inventory ofnecessary products and services, implementing recently-learned bestpractices (e.g., early and frequent comprehensive diagnostic testing).The present technology can be used as a response to suchcontagious/pandemic events and avail medical examinations and remedieswhile reducing occasions for disease transmissions. Moreover, thepresent technology may enable patients and/or medical professionals andentities to access and leverage health-care services across the world,including in better-equipped or more recently-relevant geographiclocations.

To combat COVID-19 or similar infectious diseases, the virtualtelemedicine mechanism may provide and/or connect users to ComprehensiveMonitoring Systems. Accordingly, the virtual telemedicine mechanism mayexpand access to diagnostic tests by efficiently connecting the mismatchin supply and demand for tests. Effectively, the virtual telemedicinemechanism can facilitate a marketplace to connect the supply and demandof products and services, including diagnostic RT-PCR andantibody/antigen tests. The virtual telemedicine mechanism can alsoincrease transparency in both the price and quality of diagnostic testsin the marketplace. Accordingly, the virtual telemedicine mechanism canprotect against price gouging and provide quality controls and qualityassurance programs.

In addition to facilitating the care and the marketplace, the virtualtelemedicine mechanism can provide identification of active infectionsfor comprehensive monitoring and provide virtual patient monitoring viaa cloud-based, digital platform for quarantine management. Effectively,the virtual telemedicine mechanism can establish evidence-based criteriato provide guidelines for safe and effective quarantine andde-quarantine management, as well as for redeployment of firstresponders, nursing home staff, and healthcare providers back to thework force.

In the following, numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present technology. In other embodiments,the techniques introduced here can be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known features, such as specificfunctions or routines, are not described in detail in order to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present technology. References in thisdescription to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” or the like mean thata particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic beingdescribed is included in at least one embodiment of the presenttechnology. Thus, the appearances of such phrases in this specificationdo not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. On the other hand,such references are not necessarily mutually exclusive either.Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, orcharacteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

The words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” andother forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and beopen ended in that an item or items following any one of these words isnot meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant tobe limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted thatas used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,”and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise.

Many embodiments or aspects of the present technology described belowcan take the form of computer- or controller-executable instructions,including routines executed by a programmable computer or controller.Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the describedtechniques can be practiced on computer or controller systems other thanthose shown and described below. The techniques described herein can beembodied in a special-purpose computer or data processor that isspecifically programmed, configured, or constructed to execute one ormore of the computer-executable instructions described below.Accordingly, the terms “computer” and “controller” as generally usedherein refer to any data processor and can include Internet appliancesand handheld devices (including palm-top computers, wearable computers,cellular or mobile phones, multi-processor systems, processor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, network computers, mini computers,and the like). Information handled by these computers and controllerscan be presented at any suitable display medium, including a liquidcrystal display (LCD). Instructions for executing computer- orcontroller-executable tasks can be stored in or on any suitablecomputer-readable medium, including hardware, firmware, or a combinationof hardware and firmware. Instructions can be contained in any suitablememory device, including, for example, a flash drive, USB device, and/orother suitable medium, including a tangible, non-transientcomputer-readable medium.

The terms “coupled” and “connected,” along with their derivatives, canbe used herein to describe structural relationships between components.It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonymsfor each other. Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” can beused to indicate that two or more elements are in direct contact witheach other. Unless otherwise made apparent in the context, the term“coupled” can be used to indicate that two or more elements are ineither direct or indirect (with other intervening elements between them)contact with each other, or that the two or more elements co-operate orinteract with each other (e.g., as in a cause-and-effect relationship,such as for signal transmission/reception or for function calls), orboth.

The following embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to make and use the invention. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments would be evident based on the presenttechnology, and that system, process, or mechanical changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network connection 100 in association witha virtual telemedicine mechanism (e.g., a set of circuits and/orsoftware configured to provide healthcare services through remote/mobiledevices) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presenttechnology. The virtual telemedicine mechanism can correspond to one ormore systems and/or methods for supporting medical services. The virtualtelemedicine mechanism can identify relevant medical service providersbased on user-specific information (e.g., user identity, geographicallocation, user preferences, user resources, etc.) and event data (e.g.,real-time information indicating that the user has experienced a medicalevent that may require emergency, urgent, or non-urgent medicalservices). For example, the system can automatically determine a set ofmedical service providers customized to the user's particular location,preferences, and medical condition, and visually present that set to theuser in an easily understandable format, such as an overlay map on theuser's smart phone, list of available telemedicine services, etc.

The virtual telemedicine mechanism can include a system 102 (e.g., oneor more computing devices, such as a server, a personal computer, etc.)connected with a communication network 104. The communication network104 may further be connected with an electronic concierge network 106for allowing data transfer between the system 102 and the electronicconcierge network 106. Optionally, the communication network 104 mayfurther be connected with a user device 112 (e.g., a personal device,such as a mobile computing device, a smart phone, a wearable device, acontinuous health monitor, etc.) for allowing data transfer between theuser device 112, the system 102, and/or the electronic concierge network106.

The system 102 can be configured to provide real-time medicalinformation to a user. For example, the system 102 can include hardwarecircuitry and/or software configured to assist the user discover medicalservices across different geographic locations (e.g., local, remote,such as different cities, states, and/or countries). Also, the system102 can enable the user to interact in real-time with otherparticipants, such as for providing medical services.

The communication network 104 may be a wired and/or a wireless network.Any wireless portions of the communication network 104 may beimplemented using communication techniques such as Visible LightCommunication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE™), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN),Infrared (IR) communication, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN),Radio waves, and other communication techniques known in the art.

The electronic concierge network 106 can include a set of devices (e.g.,hardware circuits and/or software) configured to facilitate medicalservices in real-time using or interfacing with devices in multipleremote locations. For example, the electronic concierge network 106 caninclude a support system for identifying nearby services, supportingvirtual services, and/or providing a marketplace for medical resources.

In one embodiment, the electronic concierge network 106 may beimplemented via a cloud network. The electronic concierge network 106may include a patient network database 108 and/or an event supportdatabase 110. The patient network database 108 may be configured tostore patient data, such as personal data, user medical data, and/oruser preference data. The stored data can include, without limitation,patient records, medical data (e.g., medical history, familial medicalhistory, allergies, medications), billing information, insuranceinformation, employer information, preference data (e.g., preferreddoctors and/or facilities), travel itinerary, risk score (e.g.,contagious disease score), or the like. The patient network database 108may further include outputs or results (e.g., device-monitored healthdata and/or user-reported data) provided by the user device 112. Theevent support database 110 may be configured to store support networkdata representative of persons and places that provide medical services,such as pharmacies, doctors, hospitals, clinics, third parties,insurance, and/or payment agents. The event support database 110 maystore a user Identity (ID) of the user, biometric data, user profiles(e.g., telemedicine data), and/or authentication data and may store thedata along with a current geographical location of the user.

The user device 112 may include a device having suitable software andhardware components for receiving input data from a user and fordisplaying output data to the user. The user device 112 may include anoutput display. Alternatively or additionally, the user device 112 maycouple to a display to provide the output data. In one embodiment,relevant information may be displayed on a Graphical User Interface(GUI). A smart phone is shown as an example of the user device 112 inFIG. 1. Further, the user device 112 may be any other device including aGUI, for example, a laptop, desktop, tablet, phablet, mobile device, orother such devices known in the art. The user device 112 may include alocal software application (e.g., a desktop application, webapplication, or mobile application) configured to implement the variousmethods described herein and may include one or more imaging devices,including cameras. The user device 112 may further include a wearabledevice, a continuous health monitoring circuitry (e.g., a blood glucosemonitor, a heart rate monitor, etc.). The user device 112 may beconfigured to communicate directly with the system 102 (via, e.g., apeer-to-peer communication or a direct link), or indirectly via thecommunication network 104.

In some embodiments, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can include auser identifier 114. The user identifier 114 can include a device, astructure, a software, a biometric signature or a representationthereof, or a combination thereof configured to uniquely identify theuser. For example, the user identifier 114 can include a card configuredto provide a unique code or identifier (via, e.g., Near FieldCommunication) representative of the user. In other embodiments, theuser device 112 can include a biometric sensor configured to detect aphysiological feature (e.g., a finger print) of the user as the useridentifier 114.

For illustrative purposes, an example configuration for the presenttechnology is depicted in FIG. 1. However, it is understood thatalternative configurations may be used. For example, the user device 112may include or be combined with the system 102 or one or more componentsthereof. Accordingly, some or all of the functionality described hereinwith respect to the system 102 may also be performed by the user device112, and vice-versa. Moreover, the system 102 may include or be combinedwith the electronic concierge network 106 or one or more componentsthereof (e.g., the patient network database 108 and/or the event supportdatabase 110). Accordingly, some or all of the functionality describedherein with respect to the system 102 may also be performed by theelectronic concierge network 106, and vice-versa.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram for the virtual telemedicinemechanism in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presenttechnology. The virtual telemedicine mechanism can include (at, e.g.,the system 102 of FIG. 1, the user device 112 of FIG. 1, one or moredevices in the electronic concierge network 106, or a combinationthereof) one or more processors 202, one or more interfaces 204 and/ormemory 206.

The processors 202 can include data processors (e.g., central processingunits (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), System On Chip (SOC)devices, special-purpose computers, and/or onboard servers) configuredto execute instructions (e.g., software instructions) stored on one ormore portions of the memory 206. The processors 202 can implement theprogram instructions to control/interface with other devices, therebycausing the virtual telemedicine mechanism to execute actions, tasks,and/or operations. The processor 202 may execute an algorithm stored inthe memory 206, thereby providing real-time assistance to the user indiscovering and supporting medical services. The processor 202 may alsobe configured to decode and execute any instructions received from oneor more other electronic devices or server(s).

The interfaces 204 can be configured to couple different circuits and/ordevices to each other. For example, internal interfaces can include abus, such as a system bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) busor PCI-Express bus, a HyperTransport or industry standard architecture(ISA) bus, a small computer system interface (SCSI) bus, a universalserial bus (USB), an IIC (I2C) bus, or an Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus (also referred to as“Firewire”). Examples of external interfaces can include communicationcircuits and/or network interfaces configured to facilitatedevice-to-device communications. The interfaces 204 can further includeuser interfaces configured to provide an interface between the user andone or more devices of the virtual telemedicine mechanism. The userinterface can accept an input from the user and/or provide an output tothe user. The interface(s) 204 may either be a Command Line Interface(CLI), Graphical User Interface (GUI), or a voice interface. In someembodiments, the GUIs can include a dashboard for providing data to theuser, such as in managing virtual clinic sessions.

The memory 206 may include, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives,magnetic storage mediums, floppy diskettes, optical disks, Compact DiscRead-Only Memories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductormemories, such as ROMs, Random Access Memories (RAMs), ProgrammableRead-Only Memories (PROMs), Erasable PROMs (EPROMs), ElectricallyErasable PROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, orother type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storingelectronic instructions and/or data.

The memory 206 may include modules (e.g., instruction groupings and/orfunctions) executable by the processor 202. In one case, the memory 206may include a Mobile Electronic Concierge (MEC) module 208, an eventmodule 210, and a geo module 212. The memory 206 can be non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a computing system, cause the computing system to performmethods disclosed herein. The MEC module 208 can be configured toprovide the concierge functionalities. For example, the MEC module 208can enable the electronic concierge network to perform one or morefunctions described below. Also, the MEC module 208 can enable thesystem 102 and/or the user device 112 to interface with the electronicconcierge network 106. The event module 210 can be configured tofacilitate real-time determination of a user context. For example, theevent module 210 can be configured to detect real-time user conditions,such as health-related emergencies, using the event support database110, the system 102, and/or the user device 112. Also, the event module210 can provide an interface between the event support database 110, thesystem 102, and/or the user device 112. The geo module 212 can beconfigured to determine a current location of the user, such as bydetermining a current location of the user device 112. The geo module212 can include instructions for interacting with a locating circuit 214to determine the current location, such as based on triangulation-basedderivations and/or dead-reckoning derivations. Some examples of thelocating circuit can include a Global Positioning System (GPS) device orreceiver, a motion sensor (e.g., an accelerometer and/or a compass), amotion tracker, a radio signal detector (e.g., a node-specific referencesignal detector for WIFI/Cell triangulation derivations), or the like.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram for a first example method 300 ofoperating the virtual telemedicine mechanism in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present technology. The method 300 can be forproviding real-time concierge service to a user/patient. For example,the method 300 can be for locating medical resources (e.g., equipment,tests, services, etc.) according to a current context of the patient.The method 300 can be implemented by the system 102 of FIG. 1, the userdevice 112 of FIG. 1, the electronic concierge network 106 of FIG. 1,the MEC module 208 of FIG. 2, and/or the event module 210 of FIG. 2.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and otherprocesses and methods disclosed herein, the functions performed in theprocesses and methods may be implemented in differing order.Furthermore, the outlined steps and operations are provided as examples,and some of the steps and operations may be optional, combined intofewer steps and operations, or expanded into additional steps andoperations without detracting from the essence of the disclosedtechnology.

At block 302, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can identifier a user(e.g., a patient) accessing the concierge service. For example, the userdevice 112 and/or the system 102 can receive an input, such as auser-identifier and password, data from or representative of the useridentifier 114, etc., uniquely associated with the user. The user device112 can compare the input to a predetermined list or data associatedwith one or more authorized users. Also, the user device 112 can providethe identification input to the system 102 and/or the electronicconcierge network 106 for authentication.

The user may be identified/authenticated based on matching of at leastone of a unique identity code or biometric details with reference userdata, also referred to herein as user details. In one embodiment, theuser is identified based on both a unique identity code and biometricdetails. For example, the system 102 may receive the unique identitycode and/or biometric details from the user, and can compare the uniqueidentity code and/or biometric details with previously stored user dataor details (e.g., user details previously stored in one or moredatabases of the electronic concierge network 106) or reference userdata. If the unique identity code and/or biometric details match thestored user details, the user is successfully identified, and the system102 can proceed to step 304.

At block 304, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can determine thegeographical location of the user. For example, in response tosuccessfully authenticating the user, the user device 112 can use thelocating circuit 214 and/or the geo module 212 to derive the currentlocation (e.g., GPS coordinates) of the user device 112. The user device112 can interact with other devices or systems (e.g., satellites,transmitters, location servers, etc.) to derive the current location inreal-time. The user device 112 can implement a predetermined process,such as GPS-based derivations, triangulation, or dead-reckoningnavigation, to derive the current location. The current location of theuser device 112 may be provided to other devices, such as the system102, the electronic concierge network 106, a map server, for furtherprocessing. Alternatively or additionally, the virtual telemedicinemechanism may predict a future location of the user. The predictedfuture location can be determined in a variety of ways, such as using auser-provided travel itinerary data that includes times and locations oftravel. The user may input a particular time at which medical servicesare desired (e.g., a future date for refilling a prescription). The userdevice 112 and/or system 102 can compare the input time with the travelitinerary data to determine the predicted future geographical locationof the user during that time.

At block 306, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can receive event datarepresentative of the patient/user condition. For example, the system102 and/or the electronic concierge network 106 can receivehealth-related data and/or context-related data from the user device112. The user device 112 can provide user-input information, data fromwearable devices, outputs from continuous health monitors through thecommunication network 104 of FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the userdevice 112 can continuously stream the health-related data and/or thecontext-related data, and the system 102 and/or the electronic conciergenetwork 106 can analyze the received data to determine a medical event(e.g., a medical emergency). Additionally or alternatively, the userdevice 112 can compare the health-related data and/or thecontext-related data to a set of predetermined template values todetermine a triggering event (e.g., a recognizably dangerous heartbeatpattern, a threshold blood sugar level, etc.). Based on the triggeringevent, the user device 112 can alert the system 102 and/or theelectronic concierge network 106 of the determined event and/or providethe relevant data.

In some embodiments, the user device 112 can locally detect emergencies(e.g., life-threatening events) according to a set of predeterminedthresholds/templates and notify the system 102 and/or the electronicconcierge network 106 accordingly. As an illustrative example, thevirtual telemedicine mechanism can determine a heartrate thresholdand/or a noteworthy heartbeat pattern appropriate for the past medicalhistory and/or current condition of the user. The virtual telemedicinemechanism can compare the data from the wearable heartrate monitor todetermine whether or not the user is experiencing a heart attack orother heart-related health events. Alternatively or additionally, theuser device 112 can interact with the system 102 and/or the electronicconcierge network 106 for detecting one or more predetermined events.

The event data may be received in the form of, but not limited to, atext string, or an audio request, or an audio request reduced to a textstring, or an image. For example, the user input can include an image ofa wound, audio (e.g., audio of a user requesting services), image datafor generating an image representing of the user, and/or text describingthe services requested. Further, the event data may include a set ofquestions to be answered by the user (e.g., questions regarding thetype, timing, and/or severity of symptoms), and/or the user's responsesthereto. The event data can be answers to one or more questions fordetermining user health, condition information, pain information,allergy information, and priority information. The priority informationcan be used to determine whether or not the user requires immediateassistance, urgent care, transportation, isolation (e.g., due to acontagious disease), or the like. If processing the event module 210determines that the user requires immediate attention, medicalassistance can be sent to the user. If executing the event module 210determines that urgent care should be provided, the event module 210 canidentify at least one available urgent care facility. The MobileElectronic Concierge (MEC) module 208 can receive and store the eventdata from the user and/or event module 210.

At block 308, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can process the eventdata for providing concierge service. For example, the system 102 and/orthe electronic concierge network 106 can analyze the received dataaccording to information in the patient network database 108, such aspast and/or current health conditions of the user, to identify usercontext. The virtual telemedicine mechanism can access recordsassociated with medical emergencies (e.g., heart attack, severe injury,fainting, allergic reactions), preventative visits, examinations,prescription records, non-emergency care, or the like. The virtualtelemedicine mechanism can further access family history of the user,the travel itinerary, risk scores and/or current health-related status(e.g., circulating diseases, pollution level, weather forecast, etc.).The virtual telemedicine mechanism can use the accessed information todetermine a set of applicable templates, thresholds, and/or rules. Thevirtual telemedicine mechanism can compare the event data to thedetermined set of templates/thresholds to identify a user context and/orfor inputs controlling subsequent services related to the identifiedcontext.

As an illustrative example, the virtual telemedicine mechanism canaccess the symptoms and/or related measurement patterns indicative ofdiseases occurring within a threshold distance from the current locationof the user. The virtual telemedicine mechanism can compare the receivedevent data to the accessed symptoms or associated data patterns todetermine whether or not the patient user is experiencing the samesymptoms and/or a likelihood that the user has been infected with acorresponding disease.

In response to the event/context recognition, the virtual telemedicinemechanism can perform a search for heath resources (e.g., specialists,medical facilities, medical equipment, etc.) according to a set ofpredetermined parameters and/or rules associated with the identifieduser context. The virtual telemedicine mechanism may perform alocation-based search when the identified context matches a set oflocation-limited events (e.g., refilling prescription) and/or timesensitive events (e.g., life-threatening emergencies). In performing thelocation-based search, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can useadditionally derived results, such as an estimated travel time incomparison to a predetermined window for the determined health event, toprocess the search results.

For other types of user context, the virtual telemedicine mechanism canperform a search for targets at other remote locations. For such search,the virtual telemedicine mechanism can account for expertise or recentexperiences of the medical service providers with the identified usercontext. For example, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can rankhealthcare providers in certain Asian countries higher than otherlocations for COVID-related events and/or score the doctors/facilitiesaccording to the date of last service associated with the user context.When the search results are outside of a home country of the user, thevirtual telemedicine mechanism can account for medical staff languageproficiency and/or accessibility for translation services for theuser-preferred language in processing the result. Moreover, the searchresults can account for availability of the matching healthcareresources, such as due to differences in time zones. The virtualtelemedicine mechanism can similarly perform a search for user-requestedhealth resources.

In some embodiments, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can process theevent data based on crowd-sourced data (via, e.g., machine-learningand/or artificial intelligence mechanisms). The virtual telemedicinemechanism can process user-provided health data and/or previousfeedback/usage from other users to provide the concierge service. Forexample, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can score searched results(e.g., services, personnel, or other like medical resources) accordingto frequency of use, review indications, recovery results, subsequenthealth conditions, etc. associated with previous users having the sameuser context. Also, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can providehigher weights to search results that match previous search resultsand/or corresponding responses for other users matching contexts,histories, and/or health data matching those of the current user.Accordingly, the user selection or response to the concierge service canbe included into the learning/training data for subsequentevents/services. In one or more embodiments, the virtual telemedicinemechanism can infer similar personalities or preferences with otherusers based on matches in non-health-related information. Suchsimilarities can further be used to derive weights in providing thesearch results.

At block 310, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can generate conciergeoutput(s) based on the analysis. For example, the virtual telemedicinemechanism can output or display the search results, facilitate virtualexamination sessions, and/or provide relevant data (e.g., currenthealth-related data, previous medical records, etc.) to selected medicalfacility/personnel, etc.

FIG. 4 illustrates a first example concierge output in accordance withone or more embodiments of the present technology. In some embodiments,the first example concierge output may be presented as a map overlaidwith the event data and/or the user preference data, as illustrated inFIG. 4. Further, the event data and/or the user preference data may befiltered and shown based on the current geographical location of theuser. The relevant support network data may include locations andinformation related to medical service providers, such as pharmacies,doctors, hospitals, clinics, third parties, insurance, payment agents,and the like. Such locations and information may be filtered based onthe current geographical location of the user and may be presented tothe user in form of the relevant support network data. For example,locations may be excluded based on estimated travel time, trafficconditions, availability of transportation (e.g., buses, trains, etc.),or the like. The user can adjust the filter settings.

The illustrated example can correspond to a non-emergency and/orlocation-limited search result. For example, the virtual telemedicinemechanism can provide pharmacy recommendations based on the user currentlocation and previously visited locations, such as a booked hotel, arental car service, and the like. The virtual telemedicine mechanism canuse the distances between the current location and/or previously-visitedlocations to derive a feasible travel distance. The virtual telemedicinemechanism can limit the search results to locations within the feasibletravel distance from the current location.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example treatment assistance system 500 inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present technology. Theexample treatment assistance system 500 can correspond to a secondexample concierge output for notifying relevant support network for thedetermined event.

The virtual telemedicine mechanism can identify the relevant supportnetwork data as the search results (e.g., facilities, medical personnel,and/or other medical resources) corresponding to the event data, userpreference data, the current and/or predicted future geographicallocation of the user, etc. as described above. The relevant supportnetwork data may include locations and information related to medicalservice providers, such as pharmacies, doctors, hospitals, clinics,third parties, insurance, payment agents, and the like. In someembodiments, the system 102 of FIG. 1 can use the event data, userpreference data, and/or the current and/or predicted future geographicallocation of the user to automatically identify a subset of medicalservice providers (e.g., a subset of the providers from the supportnetwork data stored in event support database 110 of FIG. 1) that arerelevant to the identified context (e.g., are suitable for responding tothe current event, fulfill some or all of the preferences, and/or arelocated within a predetermined distance from a current or predictedfuture geographical location). In some embodiments, the relevant supportnetwork data may include telemedicine providers.

As an illustrative example, the event module 210 of FIG. 2 can beexecuted (via, e.g., the processors 202 of FIG. 2) to evaluate the eventdata and determine that the user has, for example, a time-criticalemergency that may require surgery. The MEC module 208 of FIG. 2 candetermine a relevant support network data that includes a medicalfacility capable of providing surgical services. In another case, theevent module 210 may evaluate the event data and determine that the userhas non-urgent infection. The MEC module 208 and/or concierge networkcan then determine a relevant support network data that includes aclinic and a pharmacy. The user can select a recommended pharmacy near ahotel, place or work, or home to conveniently purchase medication. Ifthe user is travelling, the MEC module 208 and/or concierge network canidentify relevant support network data based on the user's itinerary,which can be retrieved from the mobile device (e.g., device 112) orinputted by the user. For example, if the user is travelling to anothercity, the relevant support network data can include a pharmacy near theuser's hotel in that city. The relevant support network data cantherefore provide a medical services plan for the user's trip. Inanother embodiment, the relevant support network data can includedifferent sets of relevant support network data. For example, a firstset of relevant support network data for discovering medical servicesnear a user's residence and a second set of relevant support networkdata for discovering medical services near the user's place of work. Therelevant support network data can include information about theservices, such as hours of operation, ratings, directions to/frommedical facilities. In response to a pandemic, the event module 210 canautomatically send alerts, notifications, and other data to the user, aswell as information about telemedicine services and virtualmarketplaces.

The virtual telemedicine mechanism can further provide services to usersthat are healthcare professionals. For example, the system 102 and/orthe electronic concierge network 106 can screen or filter patients tomatch the capacity, specialty, and/or the capability of the serviceprovider, thereby eliminating wasted resources caused by mismatches.Also, the system 102 and/or the electronic concierge network 106 canfacilitate virtual examinations using one or more video conferencingtools. Moreover, the system 102 and/or the electronic concierge network106 can provide the healthcare provider with the patient information,even when the patient is incapacitated or speaks a different language.

As an illustrative example, FIG. 5 illustrates the treatment assistancesystem 500 (e.g., an implementation of the network connection 100 ofFIG. 1) for providing virtual care to a patient user. In other words,the treatment assistance system 500 can correspond to a subsection ofthe network connection 100 facilitating real-time medical services withpatients and healthcare providers at different locations.

The treatment assistance system 500 can communicatively couple a patient510 located at a patient site 518 (e.g., residence, hotel room, etc.)with a physician 520 located at a physician site 530 (e.g., hospital,office, clinic, residence, etc.). At the patient site 518, an imagecapture system 522 (e.g., the user device 112 of a patient-user) cancapture image data of the patient 510 or a portion of patient's body.The captured data can be communicated through the communication network104 and provided at the physician site 530, where an imaging system 532(e.g., the user device 112 of a physician-user) can generate a virtualpatient image 534 (shown in dashed line) based on the received data.Also, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can similarly reproducecaptured data (e.g., images, voice signals, text, etc.) from or of thephysician 520 and communicate it to the patient 510. The virtualtelemedicine mechanism can also communicate the patient data (e.g., thecurrent location, health records, current data from wearable devices ormonitoring applications, personal information, etc.) to the physician520. In some embodiments, the system 522 and/or the system 532 canprovide augmented reality (AR) imaging, virtual reality (VR) imaging, 3Dimaging (e.g., 3D HD), or combinations thereof for the real-timeinteractions. The rendered image can provide an immersive viewingexperience similar to physical examinations. Also, the physician and/orthe patient may be able to pinpoint locations on the body of thecommunicating party or the recipient body to assist in thecommunication. For example, the treatment assistance system 500 canoverlay or project instructive images and/or the physician movements tothe body of the patient user in guiding the recipient user (e.g., thepatient or someone near the patient) to perform physician guided actions(e.g., data gathering stimulus or first-aid measures).

The treatment assistance system 502 can include at least one database552 and module 546. The database 552 can be configured to storereference data, such as historical and/or clinical data from the samepatient, other patients (e.g., groups of prior patients), simulationdata, data from practice databases, data obtain by researchinstitutions, clinical trials, or the like. The module 546 can beconfigured with one or more algorithms for providing clinical decisionsupport, analyzing patient data, diagnosis, generating protocols (e.g.,diagnostic protocols, testing protocols, evaluation protocols, etc.),generating treatment plans, or the like. The treatment assistance system502 can provide certainty ratings, treatment risk data, predictedoutcomes, predicted related follow-up treatments, or the like. In someembodiments, the treatment assistance system 502 can continuously orperiodically analyze data to determine near real-time or real-time data.In some embodiments, the module 546 can assist with diagnosis andtreatment based on one or more known factors. The factors can include,without limitation demographic information (e.g., age, gender, etc.),patient complaints (e.g., chief complaints, complaint history), historyof present illness, medical data, past medical history, past surgicalhistory, medications, allergies, social history, review of systems,vitals, height, weight, BMI, physical exam findings, lab results,diagnostic tests, imaging results, or the like. Based on the factors andthe pattern of diagnosis, treatment, and known outcome measures, themodule 546 can generate recommendations regarding products/services thatare available via the marketplace, generate a treatment plan, andprovide recommendations (e.g., product recommendations based on reviewssuch as physician reviews, patient outcomes, etc.).

The module 546 can be configured with one or more algorithms to generateat least one of diagnostic support using clinical knowledge, statistics,machine learning, AI, neural networks, or the like. In some embodiments,one or more algorithms are used to identify correlations between datasets, patient parameters, healthcare provider parameters, healthcareresource parameters, treatment procedures, medical device designs,marketplace parameters, and/or treatment outcomes. The data sets caninclude, without limitation, physician-specific datasets,patient-specific datasets, aggregated datasets, healthcare providerdatasets, best standard practice datasets, datasets generated usingsimulations, or the like. One or more correlations can be used todevelop at least one predictive model that generates diagnosis score,predicts the likelihood that a diagnosis is accurate, treatment planprovides a favorable outcome, or the like. The model(s) can bevalidated, e.g., by inputting data into the model(s) and comparing theoutput of the model to the expected output. Algorithms can also beapplied to improve display and viewing of the virtual patient image 534based on, for example, physician settings, preferences, or the like.

The module 546 can use one or more AI techniques to develop computingsystems capable of simulating aspects of human intelligence, e.g.,learning, reasoning, planning, problem solving, decision making, etc. AItechniques can include, but are not limited to, rule-based systems,case-based reasoning, artificial neural networks, decision trees,support vector machines, regression analysis, Bayesian networks (e.g.,naïve Bayes classifiers), genetic algorithms, cellular automata, fuzzylogic systems, multi-agent systems, swarm intelligence, data mining,machine learning (e.g., supervised learning, unsupervised learning,reinforcement learning), and hybrid systems.

In some embodiments, the module 546 can generate output using one ormore trained machine learning models. Various types of machine learningmodels, algorithms, and techniques are suitable for use with the presenttechnology. In some embodiments, the machine learning model is initiallytrained on a training data set, which is a set of examples used to fitthe parameters (e.g., weights of connections between “neurons” inartificial neural networks) of the model. For example, the training dataset can include any of the reference data (e.g., reference diagnosticdata, patient data, etc.) stored in database 552, such as a plurality ofreference provider data sets or a selected subset thereof (e.g., aplurality of similar patient data sets, physician data sets, etc.). Theoutput can be a diagnosis based on historical patient data. In someembodiments, the module 546 can be trained with physician specificmachine learning models. For example, machine learning can be initiallyperformed for each physician based on physician specific trainingdatasets. This allows the module 546 to provide recommendationsconsistent with a physician's preferences, habits, patterns, etc. Themodule 546 can optionally adjust the specific train models based on bestpractices, healthcare provider data, aggregate data sets (groups ofphysician data set), or the like. In other embodiments, the module 546can be trained using a non-physician specific training dataset. Themodule 546 can be further trained using physician specific and/ornon-specific data. This allows for training flexibility.

In some embodiments, the machine learning model, such as a neuralnetwork or a naïve Bayes classifier, may be trained on the training dataset using a supervised learning method, such as a gradient descent orstochastic gradient descent. The training dataset can include pairs ofgenerated “input vectors” with the associated corresponding “answervector.” The model can be run with the training data set and produces aresult, which is then compared with the target, for each input vector inthe training data set. Based on the result of the comparison and thespecific learning algorithm being used, the parameters of the model areadjusted. The model fitting can include both variable selection andparameter estimation. The fitted model can be used to predict theresponses for the observations in a second data set called thevalidation data set. The validation data set can provide an unbiasedevaluation of a model fit on the training data set while tuning themodel parameters. Validation data sets can be used for regularization byearly stopping, e.g., by stopping training when the error on thevalidation data set increases, as this may be a sign of overfitting tothe training data set. In some embodiments, the error of the validationdata set error can fluctuate during training, such that ad-hoc rules maybe used to decide when overfitting has truly begun. Finally, a test dataset can be used to provide an unbiased evaluation of a final model fiton the training data set.

To generate an examination plan, a diagnosis, and/or treatment plan, adata set can be input into the trained machine learning model(s).Additional data, such as the selected subset of reference patient datasets and/or similar patient data sets, and/or treatment data from theselected subset, can also be input into the trained machine learningmodel(s). The trained machine learning model(s) can then calculatewhether a diagnosis is accurate, various candidate treatment proceduresand/or medical device designs are likely to produce a favorable outcomefor the patient, etc. Based on these calculations, the trained machinelearning model(s) can select at least one examination plan, diagnosis,and/or treatment plan. In embodiments where multiple trained machinelearning models are used, the models can be run sequentially orconcurrently to compare outcomes and can be periodically updated usingtraining data sets. The module 546 can use one or more of the machinelearning models based the model's predicted accuracy score. In someembodiments, the trained machine learning model(s) can adaptivelyprovide real-time output based in physician and/or user input. Thetrained machine learning model(s) can determine or select one or morequestions, requests for information, and other output for conducting theexamination, diagnosis, etc. In some embodiments, the trained machinelearning model(s) can select procedures based on, for example,reimbursement (e.g., whether procedures qualify for reimbursement, suchas governmental reimbursement, insurance reimbursement, etc.),regulations (e.g., governmental regulations, FDA regulations, etc.),patient preferences (e.g., length of treatment, cost limits, etc.), orthe like.

The treatment assistance system 502 can include one or more componentsof the system 102 discussed in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. In someembodiments, the treatment assistance system 502 can provide conciergeservices for identifying, selecting, scheduling a virtual clinicsession. The treatment assistance system 502 can provide the portal,applications, or other technology for conducting telemedicine services.The system 500 can include the system 102 discussed in connection withFIG. 1 so that the system 500 is capable of discovering medical servicesand supporting medical services, as well as available medical sourcesfor purchase or lease. Recommendations can be reviewed by the physicianwho can assist the patient in selecting, for example, local medicalservices near the patient, telemedicine services, virtual services, orthe like. This can reduce the time to treatment, enable examinations(e.g., enable examinations of quarantined or remote patients), etc.

The system 500 can provide a virtual medical marketplace for selling,leasing, and/or purchasing medical equipment and supplies. Sellers 566,568 can list products via a cloud-based marketplace via thecommunication network 504. The system can match sellers and buyers basedon geographic data (e.g., buyers and sellers within a preset distance),transport criteria, price, regulatory schemes, or the like. In pandemicsettings (e.g., contagious virus setting), the marketplace can be usedto acquire a scarce supply of resources (e.g., personal protectiveequipment, respirators, ventilators, etc.) and provide users with priceinformation (e.g., patient price transparency) via a GPS-based system.The module 546 can apply one or more algorithms to match buyers andsellers to facilitate health-care provider decisions. If the module 546predicts there will be shortage of resources, the module 546 can selectrecommend products and sellers, provide resource predictions, andpreparation protocols for providers to limit or avoid a shortage ofresources that could impact patient care. Predictive forecasting can beprovided to manufacturers, regulatory agencies, and/or suppliers tomanage manufacturing, pricing, distribution, or the like.

FIG. 6 is an example dashboard 600 in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present technology. The dashboard 600 can include ordisplay patient data 602, treatment information 606, marketplace 608,and clinical support 610. The patient data 602 can include one or moreelectronic medical records, real-time data (e.g., wearable obtaineddata), test data, lab data, patient preferences, physician notes,patient feedback (e.g., feedback acquired via questionnaires), data fromwearables (e.g., heart rate data, exercise data, etc.), test data,imaging data (e.g., camera images, MRI images, ultrasound images, CATscan images, PET images, X-Ray images), or the like. The treatmentinformation 606 can include available treatments (e.g., based onavailable medical equipment), recommended treatments, or the like. Themarketplace 608 can display medical technology for sale, medicaltechnology location information (e.g., whether nearby or remote), or thelike. The clinical support 610 can include recommend test to performed,list of potential diagnosis, diagnosis score (likelihood score), and/orthe like. The dashboard can include GUIs, filters (e.g., price filters,rating filters, shipping filters, etc.), navigation menus, or the likeand can handle payments to facilitate transactions. The marketplace datacan be provided to the patient via a portal, website, or the like andcan include, without limitation, available products, prices, shippinginformation, instructions for use, and/or certification/regulatorinformation. The physician can provide guidance and recommendationsbased on the available resources that can be sent to the patient orlocal health-care provider.

In an illustrative embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc.described herein can be implemented as computer-readable instructionsstored on a computer-readable medium (e.g., the memory 206 of FIG. 2).The computer-readable instructions can be executed by a set ofprocessors (e.g., the processors 202 of FIG. 2) of a mobile unit, anetwork element, and/or any other computing device.

There is little distinction left between hardware and softwareimplementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware or softwareis generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choicebetween hardware and software can become significant) a design choicerepresenting cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs. There are various vehiclesby which processes and/or systems and/or other technologies describedherein can be affected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), andthat the preferred vehicle will vary with the context in which theprocesses and/or systems and/or other technologies are deployed. Forexample, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy areparamount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmwarevehicle; if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for amainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, theimplementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/orfirmware.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram for a second example method 700 ofoperating the virtual telemedicine mechanism in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present technology. The method 700 can be forapplying/implementing the real-time concierge service fortreating/managing one or more targeted diseases (e.g., COVID-19). Themethod 700 can be implemented by the system 102 of FIG. 1, the userdevice 112 of FIG. 1, the electronic concierge network 106 of FIG. 1,the MEC module 208 of FIG. 2, and/or the event module 210 of FIG. 2. Themethod 700 can correspond to an example implementation of the method 300of FIG. 3.

The method 700 can correspond to blocks 306-310 of FIG. 3 in respondingto and/or managing a targeted disease. The method 700 can start when theuser presents symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, shortness of breath)corresponding to the targeted disease (e.g., COVID-19). In someembodiments, the method 700 can start based on input(s) (e.g., reportedsymptoms and/or method initiation command) provided by the patient-user510 of FIG. 5 and/or the physician 520 of FIG. 5. Alternatively oradditionally, the method 700 can autonomously start (i.e., withoutinitiating input from a user) when data from patient monitor devices(e.g., wearable devices and/or continuous health monitors) match one ormore predetermined thresholds or patterns.

At block 702, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can coordinate adetection test and/or access results thereof for the patient user. ForCOVID-19, the detection test can correspond to an RT-PCR test thatdirectly detects (via, e.g., detecting the presence of viral RNA) thepresence of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. The virtual telemedicinemechanism (e.g., the system 102 of FIG. 1 and/or the electronicconcierge network 106 of FIG. 1) can detect updates to the patienthealth records and access the patient medical history for the testresults.

At decision block 704 (corresponding to, e.g., block 308 of FIG. 3), thevirtual telemedicine mechanism can determine whether the test resultsare positive or negative. When the test results are not positive (i.e.,the patient user has not been infected with the targeted disease), theconcierge service can implement preventative measure, such asillustrated at block 706. For example, the concierge service caninform/remind the user of the preventative guidelines (e.g., socialdistancing rules, stay-at home recommendations, etc.). The conciergeservice feature in the virtual telemedicine mechanism can further assistthe user with sheltering at home, such as by providing the preventativeguidelines (e.g., social distancing rules, stay-at-home recommendations,etc.) and/or by recommending delivery applications and/or stores thatdeliver to the user location.

When the test results are positive, the concierge service feature of thevirtual telemedicine mechanism can implement disease managementfeatures, such as illustrated at block 708. The disease managementfeatures can include patient monitoring, as illustrated at block 710.The virtual telemedicine mechanism (via, e.g., the user device 112) canmonitor the patient current location and/or real-time health indicators.In some embodiments, the concierge service feature can provide locationhistory for contact tracing and/or automatically alert the physicianwhen the patient condition matches a predetermined threshold. Theconcierge service can further provide the stay-at-home assistancefeatures to the user in quarantine.

At decision block 712, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can determinewhether or not the quarantine period has ended. For COVID-19, therecommended quarantine period can be 14 days. Accordingly, the virtualtelemedicine mechanism can track the duration of the patient quarantineand compare to the 14-day threshold. When the quarantine has not ended,the virtual telemedicine mechanism can continue to monitor the patientusing the user device 112.

When the quarantine ends, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can analyzethe patient monitoring data to determine whether or not the patient hasbecome asymptomatic as illustrated at decision block 714. If the patientis not asymptomatic (e.g., if the user continues to have one or moresymptoms of the targeted disease) as defined by a set of healthmonitoring thresholds, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can continueto monitor the patient. If the patient is asymptomatic, the virtualtelemedicine mechanism can automatically provide a test alert forre-administering the test as illustrated at block 716. In someembodiments, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can schedule the diseasedetection test (e.g., the RT-PCR) according to a predeterminedscheduling mechanism. At decision block 718, the virtual telemedicinemechanism can determine whether the re-test results are positive ornegative (similarly as described above for block 308). When the re-testresults are positive (i.e., the patient remains infected by the targeteddisease), the virtual telemedicine mechanism can extend the quarantineas illustrated at block 720. The virtual telemedicine mechanism canextend quarantine by a predetermined duration (e.g., 7 more days) and/oraccording to an input from the physician. The virtual telemedicinemechanism can monitor the patient as described for block 710 until theend of the extended period. The virtual telemedicine mechanism canautomatically provide the test alert as illustrated at block 716.

When the re-test results are positive (i.e., the patient remainsinfected by the targeted disease), the virtual telemedicine mechanismcan coordinate a confirmation test and/or access results thereof for thepatient user as illustrated at block 722. For COVID-19, the confirmationtest can correspond to an antibody/antigen test that indirectly detectsthe presence of sub-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. The confirmation testcan detect the presence of antibodies and/or antigens to confirmrecovery from the targeted disease. At decision block 724, the virtualtelemedicine mechanism can determine whether the result of theconfirmation test is positive or negative. When the confirmation testresult is not positive, the virtual telemedicine mechanism may implementpreventative measures as illustrated at block 706. When the confirmationtest result is positive, the virtual telemedicine mechanism may issue animmunity certification. The immunity certification may be used as prooffor the user recovery. The immunity certification may allow the user toaccess facilities, services, etc., such as for returning back to work.

As described above, using the current location and the real-timephysiological data of the user, the virtual telemedicine mechanism canmonitor the patient user while assisting the user to follow relatedprotocols, such as for containment and/or recovery. The actualcondition/condition associated with the user may be estimated using thecurrent location and the real-time physiological data, therebyrecognizing a meaning or a categorization for the current situation orevent associated with the user. The recognized meaning/categorizationcan be used as a trigger for subsequent services that further assist theuser in dealing with the health-conditions. The transformation from thephysiological data and location to the context recognition and thesubsequent services can lead to changes in the user location and/or thephysiological conditions, which can further influence or change the usercontext. Moreover, the transformation of the physiological data andlocation to the context recognition and then a trigger/selectionmechanism for the subsequent services allows users to access optimizedor context-specific healthcare without being limited by language andgeography. Further, the virtual telemedicine mechanism can providecontact-less examinations and guide users through rapidly-changingguidelines during ongoing pandemics, thereby reducing the spread of thetargeted disease and increasing user recovery rate.

CONCLUSION

The above Detailed Description of examples of the disclosed technologyis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed technology tothe precise form disclosed above. While specific examples for thedisclosed technology are described above for illustrative purposes,various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of thedisclosed technology, as those skilled in the relevant art willrecognize.

These and other changes can be made to the disclosed technology in lightof the above Detailed Description. While the Detailed Descriptiondescribes certain examples of the disclosed technology as well as thebest mode contemplated, the disclosed technology can be practiced inmany ways, no matter how detailed the above description appears in text.Details of the system may vary considerably in its specificimplementation, while still being encompassed by the technologydisclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used whendescribing certain features or aspects of the disclosed technologyshould not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefinedherein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, oraspects of the disclosed technology with which that terminology isassociated. Accordingly, the invention is not limited, except as by theappended claims. In general, the terms used in the following claimsshould not be construed to limit the disclosed technology to thespecific examples disclosed in the specification, unless the aboveDetailed Description section explicitly defines such terms.

Although certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certainclaim forms, the applicant contemplates the various aspects of theinvention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the applicantreserves the right to pursue additional claims after filing thisapplication to pursue such additional claim forms, in either thisapplication or in a continuing application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a virtual telemedicinesystem, the method comprising: determining a current locationrepresentative of a real-time geographic location of a user of thevirtual telemedicine system, wherein determining the current locationincludes interacting with a device carried or worn by the user;receiving health-related data corresponding to a real-time physiologicalcondition of the user; identifying a health-related context based on thecurrent location and the health-related data, wherein the health-relatedcontext represents an event that is associated with the physiologicalcondition of the user and requires a medical service; determiningwhether the health-related context is associated with a geographiclimitation related to the current location of the user; and generating aconcierge output based on the determined geographic limitation, whereinthe concierge output is for assisting the user with receiving themedical service for the health-related context based on or in accordancewith the geographic limitation.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein:determining whether the health-related context is associated with thegeographic limitation includes determining that the health-relatedcontext is locally limited when the event is estimated to be anemergency event; generating the concierge output includes providing ahealthcare facility location to the user; further comprising: conductinga localized search for healthcare facilities having capabilities toaddress the emergency event; and selecting the healthcare facility foroutput from the search results, wherein the selected healthcare facilitycorresponds to a travel time less than a predetermined response limitassociated with the estimated emergency event.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein: the health-related data represents measurements and/or sensoroutputs from a wearable device, a continuous health monitor, a usermobile device, or a combination thereof; and generating the conciergeoutput includes providing the health-related data to the selectedhealthcare facility.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: determiningwhether the health-related context is associated with the geographiclimitation includes determining that the health-related context isunbound by geographical location; and generating the concierge outputincludes facilitating a real-time telecommunication session connectingthe user to a remote healthcare provider when the health-related contextis unbound by the geographical location.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the real-time telecommunication session is a telemedicinesession for providing virtual healthcare services to the user.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: identifying the health-related contextincludes determining that the health-related data corresponds to one ormore symptoms indicative of a disease; determining whetherhealth-related context is associated with the geographic limitationincludes determining a quarantine status based on accessing a detectiontest result for determining whether the user has been infected with thedisease; and generating the concierge output includes generating healthmonitor outputs based on monitoring the user over a quarantine periodwhen the detection test result indicates that the user has been infectedwith the disease.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein generating theconcierge output includes: determining that the user is asymptomaticbased on the health monitor outputs; and automatically generating a testalert when the user is asymptomatic, wherein the test alert is forre-taking the detection test.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereingenerating the concierge output includes: accessing a confirmation testresult; and issuing a recovery certification when the confirmation testresult indicates presence of antibodies for the disease within a body ofthe user.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein generating the conciergeoutput includes communicating the recovery certification to one or moreremote devices for certifying a recovery condition of the user to remotedevice users.
 10. A system comprising: a communication circuitconfigured to exchange data with one or more remote devices; at leastone processor operably coupled to the communication circuit; at leastone computer-based memory operably coupled to the processor and havingstored thereon instructions executable by the processor to cause theprocessor to: determine a current location representative of a real-timegeographic of location a user of the virtual telemedicine system,wherein determining the current location includes interacting with adevice carried r worn by the user; receive health-related datacorresponding to a real-time physiological condition of the user;identify a health-related context based on the current location and thehealth-related data, wherein the health-related context represents anevent that is associated with the physiological condition of the userand requires a medical service; determine whether the health-relatedcontext is associated with a geographic limitation related to thecurrent location of the user; and generate a concierge output based onthe determined geographic limitation, wherein the concierge output isfor assisting the user with receiving the medical service for thehealth-related context based on or in accordance with the geographiclimitation.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein: the communicationcircuit is communicatively coupled to a wearable device, a continuoushealth monitor, a user mobile device, or a combination thereof; and thehealth-related data represents measurements and/or sensor outputs fromthe wearable device, the continuous health monitor, the user mobiledevice, or a combination thereof.
 12. The system of claim 10, whereinthe instructions further cause the processor to: determine that thehealth-related context is an emergency event based on the health-relateddata; determine that the emergency event geographically limits the user;conduct a localized search for healthcare facilities having capabilitiesto address the emergency event; select the healthcare facility foroutput from the search results, wherein the selected healthcare facilitycorresponds to a travel time less than a predetermined response limitassociated with the estimated emergency event; and communicate alocation of the selected healthcare facility to the user.
 13. The systemof claim 12, wherein the instructions further cause the processor tocommunicate the health-related data to the selected healthcare facility.14. The system of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause theprocessor to: determine that the health-related context is unbound bygeographical location; and in response to the unbound determination,provide the concierge output by facilitating a real-timetelecommunication session connecting the user to a remote healthcareprovider.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein: the identifiedhealth-related context includes a determination that the health-relateddata corresponds to one or more symptoms indicative of an infectiousdisease; the association between the health-related context and thegeographic limitation includes determining a quarantine status based onaccessing a detection test result for determining whether the user hasbeen infected with the disease; and the concierge output includesautonomously obtained outputs from a health monitor associated with theuser over a quarantine period when the detection test result indicatesthat the user has been infected with the disease.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:determine that the user is asymptomatic based on the health monitoroutputs; access a confirmation test result following the asymptomaticdetermination; and generate the concierge output including a recoverycertification when the confirmation test result indicates presence ofantibodies for the disease within a body of the user.
 17. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that,when executed by a processor, perform a method of operating a virtualtelemedicine system, the method comprising: determining a currentlocation representative of a real-time geographic location of a user ofthe virtual telemedicine system, wherein determining the currentlocation includes interacting with a device carried or worn by the user;receiving health-related data corresponding to a real-time physiologicalcondition of the user; identifying a health-related context based on thecurrent location and the health-related data, wherein the health-relatedcontext represents an event that is associated with the physiologicalcondition of the user, requires a medical service, and is associatedwith a geographic limitation related to the current location of theuser; and generating a concierge output based on the health-relatedcontext, wherein the concierge output is for assisting the user withreceiving the medical service for the health-related context based on orin accordance with the geographic limitation.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein: the encoded instructionsperform the method that further comprises deriving the geographiclimitation for search parameters based on the health-related context;and the concierge output includes one or more search results thatsatisfy the geographic limitation.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the concierge output is atrigger to initiate a real-time video conference for connecting the userwith a physician at a remote location different from the currentlocation.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17,wherein the concierge output includes a set of patient managementfeatures when the health-related context includes a determination thatthe user is infected with an infectious disease, the set of patientmanagement features including: calculating a quarantine duration inresponse to the determination that the user is infected with theinfectious disease; monitoring one or more sensor outputs during atleast an initial portion of the quarantine duration, wherein the one ormore sensor outputs represent corresponding physiological conditions ofthe user; determining that the user is asymptomatic based on themonitored sensor outputs; accessing a confirmation test result followingthe asymptomatic determination; and generating a recovery certificationwhen the confirmation test result indicates presence of antibodies forthe disease within a body of the user.